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LOUISVILLE MAGAZINE 8.14 121
LOVING THE LENS
Jasmine Reed, 12
Kaliyah Trotter, 12
Kyra Welch, 13 Jessica Flowers, 11
Rickhia Bell, 11 Ma'Kyah Pendleton, 9 Jayda Branch, 10
Johnson and Roberts
Maryan Ali, 17
Damion Johnson, 10
Awey Mohamed, 16
Shukriyah Ali, 17
Jamee Roberts, 11 Photos by:
Nine middle-school girls
gather around a table at the
Southwick Community Center
in west Louisville's Park DuValle
neighborhood, a camera bag
containing a small digital Canon
in front of each student. Tey and
other kids have been meeting twice a
week for a month as part of Picture
Love, a free photography program
for 10- to 18-year-olds that, on this
July evening, is close to wrapping
its second year. (Te program has
expanded to include kids at the
Portland Community Center.)
Te students (who get to keep
the cameras) have been taking
pictures of their families, friends and
neighborhoods. Teacher/artist Carrie
Burr, 36, says their artist statements
can be in the form of a poem or letter
to someone they love. "Tis is your
artist statement," Burr says, "so you
write whatever you want to write. Isn't
that crazy? No rules." Te statements
will be published in a book that will
include four or fve images taken by
each student. Burr says an exhibit is
planned for later this year.
Kyra Welch, 13, sits in front
of a laptop with Sarah Davis, the
25-year-old education program
coordinator at the Louisville Visual
Art Association, one of several
organizations (the Speed and Fund for
the Arts included) that made Picture
Love possible. Davis, a working
photographer, scrolls through Welch's
images, giving her tips on exposure
and composition. Tey laugh about a
shot of Welch's dad, asleep in shorts
and an undershirt. Welch says it's not
just about technical skills. "I learned
that I'm deeper than I give myself
credit for," she says.
— Tara Anderson
These young photographic novices
are learning how a camera can
produce more than images.